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Happy Birthday!

Labour’s MPs for Bristol have joined celebrations to mark the
60th anniversary of the National Health Service. The service
was launched on 5 July 1948, replacing a system of insurance which
left the most vulnerable – particularly the poor, and women and
children, facing big bills for medical care.

Roger Berry was born on July 4 1948, a day before the creation of
the new service. The Kingswood MP commented: “My birth
wasn’t registered until July 9, so I suppose I am technically an
NHS baby! The advances that the NHS has seen in my life are
quite phenomenal. At the start of the NHS, for example, an
operation to remove a cataract was a serious affair, with the
patient’s head supported by sandbags for a
week. Now, patients are generally home on the same day as
their operation.”

Bristol South MP and Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo
said:

“When I was first elected as an MP in 1987, my post-bag was
full of letters of complaints from people who had waited years for
major operations. That simply doesn’t happen now. We’ve
cut waiting lists by trebling investment in the NHS – which means
32,000 more doctors and 85,000 more nurses. Locally, of
course, we’re closer than ever to our South Bristol Hospital, with
work scheduled to get underway later in the year. But, of
course, there’s still more to do. Our NHS needs to evolve and
improve, and we want to listen to patients and staff on how best to
do this. We need to make sure that people receive important
drugs as quickly as possible, and we need to continue working hard
to ensure our hospitals are clean. Lord Darzi’s Review, and
proposals for the NHS Constitution, will provide measures to ensure
the continued improvement of the NHS.”

Kerry McCarthy, Labour’s MP for Bristol East added:

“Virtually all of us use the NHS, and people’s own
experience of their treatment is generally very good and often
excellent. My experiences, and those of my family and my
friends, is that the care provided by staff is second to
none. The NHS is one of the biggest employers in the world,
with a million staff dedicated to keeping us well, making us better
when they can, and providing palliative care when we cannot fully
recover. At this time, when we are celebrating the foundation
of our health service, I know that people will take a moment to
think of those staff who have cared for them.”

MP for Bristol North West Doug Naysmith concluded:

“The creation of the NHS is one of Labour’s proudest
achievements. In common with other seminal moves in British
politics – like the minimum wage – it was opposed by other
political parties, but it is now enshrined in the fabric of our
nation. Delivery of first-class health care free at the point
of use is one of our most fundamental rights. Indeed, as
Labour MPs, honouring the pledge to universal healthcare is one of
our central principles.”